Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Position Reduced by Sky Investment Group LLC

Sky Investment Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,016 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 193 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up 2.3% of Sky Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Sky Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $12,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Linde by 55.8% during the 3rd quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Ledyard National Bank lifted its stake in Linde by 8.4% in the third quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 3,302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Linde by 8.9% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 737 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 13,079 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,237,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its position in Linde by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 25,978 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,390,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of LIN stock traded down $4.98 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $478.38. 203,763 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,821,005. The stock has a market cap of $228.43 billion, a PE ratio of 36.79, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $470.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $450.68. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $361.02 and a 1 year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.30 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. Linde’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.57 EPS. Research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.52 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LIN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group cut their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $477.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $484.18.

About Linde

Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South Pacific. It offers atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases, such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene.